From The Traveler's Light
by BlindedSentry
Summary: In the ending years of the 2000's, Humanity was visited by the Traveler, a celestial entity they couldn't possibly understand. The Traveler uplifted Humanity into a Golden Age, lifespans increased, technology advanced by centuries. Humanity felt powerful, but they ignored a simple truth. There is more out in the void than just the Traveler.
1. Prologue

/Open Report/

R000001UO-ID*****8769-CLS/ _error_ /

EXTRATERRESTRIAL OBJECT DISCOVERED

AI-COM/MGLN

ASSETS/FORCECON/IMPERATIVE IMMEDIATE ACTION ORDER

PRIORITY: ALPHA RED

Official Vital Report (OVR) outsourced to complete Homo-Sapien Command Structure. (Secure-line)

Record: July 25th, 2479, 0049 Hours - Unknown object detected off orbit of the Charon. Scanning initiated.

Record: July 25th, 2479, 0100 Hours - Scanning Complete. Correction to previous record. Object is located within Charon, Object previously scanned was large chunk of the moon. Deep Scan initiated.

Record: July 25th, 2479, 0200 Hours - Deep Scan Complete. Presence of Unknown Object CONFIRMED~~~Artificial Status CONFIRMED. Activating NEW WORLD protocol.

Record: July 25th, 2479, 0210 Hours - Governor Tyronis of vital location NESSUS declares STATE OF ALERT. All CIVILIAN assets ordered to return to ports across Jovian Moons.

WARSAT OPERATIONAL STATUS: READY

PLANETARY DEFENSE FRAME STATUS: READY

WARMIND STATUS: AWAITING ORDERS

End Report Summary:

Object of unknown origins and composition discovered within Pluto's moon Charon. NEW WORLD protocol activated and at prime operational status. WARMIND MAGELLAN awaiting orders from HIGHCOM and RASPUTIN for operation orders.

/Report Sent/

 **Mars, Solar System**

 **July 25th, 2479**

 **0230 Hours**

 **Mars Defense Force HQ**

General Gregor MacRivvel was awoken from his sleep by his terminal's vital message line beginning to blare. The soldier in him immediately shot out of bed to his terminal. He quickly skimmed through it, as he saw that it was a message from his XO Major Skyler Bell to report to the Operations Center immediately. Giving a confirmation that he received the message, the General quickly got dressed in his uniform, and made sure to tidy up his hair before heading towards the OPS-Center. Upon arrival he saw the graveyard shift in a fervor over something, and he hoped that something would be told to him soon.

"General MacRivvel SIR!" an Exo Soldier guarding the room noticed him and called out, snapping into a salute. After the call rang out, the rest of the room turned and saluted without hesitation calling out "SIR!". Gregor quickly returned the salute, before lowering his hand and telling the room. "At easy soldiers! I need a report on what is going on ASAP!"

To his side he saw Major Bell walking up to him, holding a datapad in her hand. After typing a command into the pad, a computerized voice rang out across the room. " _General MavRivvel has the Command."_ When Bell reached him she handed him her datapad. On the screen, an image of some sort of tuning fork structure was shown to him, the Major, seeing is quizzical look gave him the rundown before he opened it. "At approximately 0049 hours, the Warmind Magellan scanned a large object in the orbit of the moon Charon. Initiating a scan, the Warmind learned that said object, was actually a part of the moon. The scan also indicated the presence of an unidentified object residing within the moon." Bell paused to take a breath, and before she continued, the General interrupted her.

"Why are we just receiving the report now Major?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

"The short answer sir, protocol. Magellan was required to inform the Governors of the Jovian Moons colonies, as well as the heads of their militias to the scan, however no deep scan was initiated at the time, so the AI had not yet filled out the OVR." Bell answered him. The question wasn't a bad one. Had the Warmind been a major one such as Icarus, Rasputin, and Charlemagne, it would have sent the report to the officials of the nearby settlements, as well as HIGHCOM, but Magellan was a minor Warmind, who stuck to official protocols of only notify local authorities until a deep scan is complete, and an OVR deemed necessary.

Gregor nodded his head for her to continue the report, finding the answer satisfactory. Clearing her throat, she obliged the General. "When a deep scan was completed, the object was confirmed to be artificial in nature, and apparently not related to the Traveler in any way, seeing as Magellan activated the New World protocol. Twenty minutes ago the Governor of Nessus declared a state of alert in case the object's slow resurfacing draws any… unwanted attention from outside the Solar System." Bell finished stating, before quickly adding, "That picture is what the scan on the moon brought up. That is the object."

Gregor scratched at his chin while looking at it. "Could it be Vex tech?" He asked looking at Bell.

"Unlikely sir. The Warmind specifically stated it was unknown. It would have been able to tell if it was Vex." She replied.

"SIR! We just received word that another chunk of the moon detached!" A private yelled from over at his terminal.

The General frowned. "There isn't much we can do at this moment." Gregor stayed silent as he thought of what he could do. By now a larger image of the object appeared in the holotable in the center of the room. Turning towards Bell, he told her what he had come up with. "Major, contact Clovis Bray and tell him that we found an extraterrestrial object near Pluto and we need his engineers and scientists to study it. But make sure they have a military contingent with them, incase something happens. Also put some of our own scientists on their ship, we can't just give this whole thing up to the civilians."

The Major nodded her head. "I will get right on that sir!" With a quick salute she turned and left the room.

MacRivvel saluted her back before she left and then turned to look at the object projected in the center of the room. _I hope that thing isn't a threat._ The General thought to himself. If the object did turn out to be a threat, Humanity would be stuck on the defensive. The only actual warships Humanity had weren't FTL capable, research was still trying to find a way to make FTL work for them. They were all also assigned to guard Earth, leaving the outer colonies with only Warsats and small militias to defend them, granted they had tens of thousands of frames, but those mechs were only meant to buy time, not win battles.

Giving his command over to the next highest ranking officer in the OPS-Center, Gregor headed towards his office to send his personal report to his fellow HIGHCOM officers back on Earth and Venus.

 **The Moon of Charon, Solar System**

 **August 1st, 2479**

 **1200 Hours**

 **Clovis Bray Research Ship** _ **Galileo**_

Sydney Taylor's head felt like it was going to explode. Everything they knew about physics, even with their expanded view on science thanks to the Traveler, told them that this object function shouldn't be possible. Lowering the mass of a ship enough for it to travel in FTL was supposed to be against everything in science, though apparently, it wasn't as this object now proved.

The last few days had been hectic, with her being assigned as the military science liason to Clovis Bray for this research mission, as well as the knowledge of an alien device being found out by the public, putting this mission together without the press gaining info was the hardest part. Another thing that happened over the last few days was the disappearance of Charon. The moon had slowly been torn apart as the device heated up, the icy moon ripping apart and melting in chunks, leaving only the device behind.

A groan of frustration came from one of the Clovis scientists, his name was Alex Bleadorn, she believed. "What is the problem Alex?" Sydney asked, making her way over to him.

His fist slammed into the desk as he typed in a command. "This damn device keeps asking for an activation signal, along with data about our mass. Why can't this thing accept we don't want to go through it! We just want to study it for fucks sake!" Alex ranted, his voice getting louder, drawing attention from other crew members.

Sydney gave him a small smile. "Just keep saying no to it Alex, it isn't anything we need to worry about. What we SHOULD worry about, is why it decided now of all times to destroy Charon, and why we never discovered it before."

"Ah ha!" A voice came from behind them. Both of the scientists turned around to see the Exo Juliana-00 walking towards them. One of the few non-military Exos, Juliana was something of an oddity to Sydney. After reaching them, the human turned machine continued to speak. "I can help you with those inspired questions!" She said gleefully.

After making a motion for Juliana to continue, Sydney leaned back against the wall to listen. "For the first question to be hypothesized, I must first answer the second. I believe the reason we didn't find it until now to be because of two facts, one, we weren't looking, or expecting anything to be inside Charon, and two, the moon blocked any scans we made, the only reason we had detected it in the first place was because a chunk of Charon broke off." The living machine explained.

"Okkayyyy. And the second question?" Alex asked.

"I believe that the reason Charon has been destroyed now of all times, is because the device is activating." Juliana quickly lifted a finger to stop Alex from interrupting. "Or… it could be going into standby mode, turning on but not fully activating. Since we have refused to activate it, and the only reason it would feasibly break Charon apart was if it was turning on, that must mean that someone from the other side of where it leads it turning it on, or at the very least its' counterpart."

Silence reigned in the lab of the _Galileo_ as the entirety of the science team had gone silent to hear the Exo speak. One of the scientists currently looking at the composition of it spoke up first. "You think that aliens are activating this thing's counterpart, because if they are, that means they have a direct open door into the Solar System. This thing is a security nightmare if that's the case. Could this device have just been on some really long timer?" The man asked, worry laced in his voice. The entire mood was somber now, the idea of first contact coming from this device made the whole team nervous.

Juliana turned to the man who asked the question and shrugged. "It is only a guess. We can't really be sure, We have had the Traveler here for four centuries now and we barely understand what it truly is. We just found this thing, only research can tell us more."

Just then, the Clovis team leader walked into the room, saw them all doing nothing besides looking at eachother and barked out, "Get to work! We have a job to do here, and sitting around doing jack shit won't help us find answers!".

A few 'sorry sir' responses came meekly from the Clovis scientists, while Sydney shook her head and went back to her own terminal. _We have a lot of work to do_ she thought.

 **The Moon of Charon, Solar System**

 **August 10th, 2479**

 **0536 Hours**

 **Clovis Bray Research Ship** _ **Galileo**_

Running the graveyard shift for the _Galileo_ had to be the most boring job on the ship. The job was basically sitting, staring at the 'Mass Relay' as it had been named, and waiting to see if anything happened. Alex was reading a news article to pass the last half hour of the shift before he was relieved. His feet were kicked up on his article was about a new medicine his wife's team had discovered at the Ishtar Academy on Venus. It apparently had something to do with a native plant called 'Spirit Bloom', that was created during the Traveler's terraforming.

Glancing over from the datapad he was reading the article on, he looked at the picture he had on his console of his wife and daughter. He felt like the luckiest man ever to be a part of their lives. It was a shame he couldn't see them as often as he liked. For months he had been trying to get transferred to Clovis Bray's Venus office, without success, he was needed on Mars they said.

A flashing red light got his attention just milliseconds before the klaxon started blaring. Alex shot straight up and rushed to the flashing device. _The gravitational readings are off the charts!_ The scientist thought as he looked at the screen that showed the Relay. _Is it… Activating?_ Alex thought in shock before opening up an intercom to the entire ship. He didn't have time to contact the boss first.

"The Relay is activating! Get to the lab immediately!" He yelled into the mic, watching as the gyroscopic center began spinning at a rapid rate, and before he knew it, he was staring at fifty ships the likes of which he has never seen before. He sat and stared for what felt like a long time.

A sound of stomping feet knocked him out of his stupor. Coming from his right, Sydney walked up and looked at him, she was still looking half asleep. "What do we have Alex?" She wasn't looking at his terminal, so she didn't see the fifty warships.

Alex gulped. "Um… Well… Fifty extraterrestrial warships just came through the Relay. What do we do?" He answered, and asked. Looking at the ships, they seemed to be orienting themselves towards the research vessel.

Sydney paled. _Fifty_ ships? Humanity had ten all guarding Earth. Sure the warsats would help, but if they found a way to shut down the orbital defense grid a vast majority of colonies would be defenseless. "Send the First Contact package and try to hail them. I'll send a report to HIGHCOM immediately." And with that order, Sydney sprinted towards her office, the lab already filling with the scientists who woke to the alert Alex sent out.

Alex, the second Sydney ran away, pulled up the package they were given. 'Just in case.' The General had said. _Glad he had the foresight_ Alex thought as he sent the package their way, and attempted to bring up a channel with the unknown vessels. Alex frowned when he saw that while the hail request was received, it was rejected. The man tried again, to the same result. _What are they doing?_ The scientist thought in worry, the last of the ships had gotten into a formation, facing towards their singular vessel. A few military fighters were sent with them, but fighters wouldn't do anything against full fledged warships if worse came to worse.

Fear gripped Alex's heart as he saw a flash come from the center of the vessel, and before he could even think about it, a huge crash echoed throughout the ship, and an announcement rang out from the bridge. " _Comm Systems are down! All occupants strap down for evasive maneuvers! The fighters will try to buy us some time!"_.

A few short seconds after the announcement was made another few flashes came from some of the now enemy ships, though most missed not expecting the quick motion of the ship to evade the fire. Holding onto his terminal, Alex felt as the systems of the _Galileo_ went into overdrive to try and escape. Another crash rang out, and alert klaxons blared. An automated voice notified the crew of damages. " _Engines one and four are down. Engineering deck has been depressurized, no survivors. Fire suppression systems are down on decks 1 and 2. Fires have ignited on decks 1 and 2. Rear Hull Integrity is at 50%. Vital Repairs required."_

With the ship unable to accelerate further with the loss of half of their engines, Alex knew the situation was hopeless. An abandon ship alert went off ship-wide, but he knew they didn't have a chance. He looked at the picture of his wife and daughter and held it in his hands as he simply sat there, screams echoing through the halls as another round hit their vessel. A few seconds later explosions rang through the ship. The last thing Alex felt was the heat before everything went dark.

 **Unnamed Star System  
August 10th, 2479**

 **0546 Hours**

 **Batarian Dreadnought** _ **Pillar's Strength**_

Admiral Devethk Gocpetor smirked as he saw the primitive ship go up in flames. He had originally planned on boarding the ship for a few extra slaves, but when he was informed that they were trying to send an emergency broadcast back to one of the planets in this new system, he decided destroying the vessel was necessary. The few fighters that had escorted that vessel were easily dispersed by the GUARDIAN point defense system.

This system was detected months ago by a Hegemony patrol, while the foolish Council simply thought it was pirates, the Batarians knew better, they had an investment in nearly all pirate groups, so they knew it wouldn't be any of their agents. At the orders of the Emperor, a single frigate slowly activated the Mass Relays leading to this system while avoiding Turian Patrols. When the final relay was discovered, Devethk was sent with his fleet to grab a foothold with this system, and get as many slaves as possible before reinforcements could arrive to conquer the species that lived here.

His navigation officer turned towards him. "Admiral! Early system scans detect dozens of colonies spread throughout the system! The nearest one is located on one of the moons of this system's largest planet! Shall I set the course for it?"

Devethk looked at the officer, while many Batarian leaders would've punished the officer for speaking without being prompted, Devethk was not one of them. He gained victory in many slave runs by respecting his crew, not by controlling them with fear. "Yes." The Admiral replied before turning to the Ensign at the communications terminal. "Inform the captains of the rest of the fleet to maintain formation, and prepare to launch the ground force on my command."

"Yes Admiral!" Came the response, the man's voice heard repeating the orders through the channel that the fleet shared.

The view of the small planet in front of the fleet faded, as the fleet performed an in-system jump towards the selected location. In less time than it took to blink, the view returned this time of a small moon surrounded by satellites, hundreds of which seemed to be orienting themselves in the direction of his fleet.

An ensign's yell caught the Admiral's attention. "Admiral! Those satellites are heating up! They are orbital weapons!"

They had exited close enough to the moon that the bridge could see the red pinpoints of light building up at hundreds of locations. "Evasive maneuvers! Rotate 2 degrees starboard and prepare our Mass Accelerators!" The slaver yelled, proud that his men followed his orders without hesitation.

While the rest of his fleet began to move as well, a few of the frigates were too slow as red beams of energy shot out of some of the larger weapons. The beams punched through their barriers and gutted the vessels, whose engines overloaded, and nothing remained in their place besides balls of fire which quickly faded in the vacuum of space.

Devethk opened a fleet wide channel to the bridges of every vessel. "Retreat out of those weapon's ranges! While we retreat launch the ground assault! Those weapons won't be able to track our landing force!"

Green lights of acknowledgement appeared on his terminal as the Batarian fleet, three ships fewer, turned and retreated to a safe distance, shuttles and gunships flying out of their hangar bays, and turning towards the colony. The orbital grid didn't even seem to try to track the landing force that got closer to the moon every second, seeming to be content with keeping the ships at a distance.

Once the ships had turned back towards the moon, this time out of range of those energy beams, an ensign walked up to the Admiral. "Sir, scans we took of the moon, as well as data streams we detected indicated that the control center for the orbital grid seem to be in an underground bunker deep beneath the only major city on the moon."

Devethk glanced at his omni-tool, that had all the data the ship received newly downloaded on it. The orange glow lit up a small area of the dim bridge. "Good. Tell the landing force to focus on reaching that control center. Once those weapons are down we can move our fleet in towards the moon and send down the slave transport containers."

"Yes sir!" The ensign saluted, then headed back to send the orders.

With a grin on his face and high spirits, the Admiral began to read through the collected data scans of the star system. He gave a slight frown when he noticed the high amounts of data and communication travelling between the planets and moons. Whatever was down in the control center on this moon, was communicating with systems spread across this star system. Some aspects of this species seemed primitive, as they only had ten warship detected at on of the furthest in worlds, but yet they have hundreds to thousands of defensive energy weapons above each of their colonies. Only time would tell have advanced this species truly was.

Oh how he looked forward to crushing them beneath the might of the Hegemony.

 **Authors Note:**

 **Welcome to the first chapter of From the Traveler's Light. This is a shorter chapter than I plan on for most of the chapters in this story, as I wanted to see how you all felt about it. I had this story in my mind for awhile and decided to give it a go. Let me know how you all feel about it in the comments, and tell me if it is worth continuing.**

 **A few things I wanted to mention are as follows. One, even when this story is in an alien POV, the date and time in the headers will be in Human time, just to make it easier to compare back to the main species of this story, and give a better understanding of the timeframe of events. Two, this is gonna be an AU where the Collapse never happens, and the Guardians are never born. All of the stories I read are all of 'Guardian in ME, ME in Destiny, or Guardians defeat light, become super powerhouse, meet Council'. This story I hope will bring a new light (no joke intended) to the ME and Destiny crossovers as it shows Humanity's Golden Age, a time when they powerful, but not a curbstomping army that will destroy anything that gets in their way. This isn't a Humanity FUCK YEAH story, Humans will win some and lose some. That is all I wanted to say.**

 **(p.s I don't own either of these properties.)**


	2. The Battle of Nessus

_Disclaimer: I own neither Destiny nor Mass Effect_

 **Nessus, Solar System**

 **August 10th, 2479  
0700 Hours**

 **New Dawn, Capital of Nessus**

One of the longest running sayings in Human history is there is always a calm before the storm. This saying matched perfectly with the atmosphere the city of New Dawn resided in. Cars were left running in the streets, lights remained on in houses all across the city as the people evacuated into Magellan's vault. High in the evening sky, hundreds of flashes were all that symbolized the massive air battle taking place between the alien force and Nessus' air defence battalion. Nothing moved across the city, besides the militarized frames that were defending key checkpoints around the city.

All of this information was seen by a single man, deep beneath the ground in the Nessus Militia HQ. Major David Anderson watched across hundreds of screens, each showing a different camera somewhere in the city. Security cameras, traffic cams, even computers left sitting on tables and benches were commandeered by the Jovian Moon's personal Warmind. A steady stream of civilians marched through the Warmind's core chamber. The idea to plant the entrance to the civilian bunker behind the brain of the Warmind was inspired. The thought was that it would help keep the people calm with the knowledge that the Warmind would die before it let any innocents fall.

Anderson was currently watching the cameras while observing a holographic map of the city, with pinpoints of light symbolizing the frame units that would be the first line of defence. He had realized that with the number of enemy hostiles, his two companies of militia men, and one company of marines, wouldn't be enough to hold the city against the attacking force. He ordered all non-mech soldiers, including Exos, to retreat into the vault. He was currently awaiting the arrival of the company Commanders so he could inform them of his strategy.

As if on queue, the door leading into the Operations center, which was located just off of the Warminds core, opened. Two men and a woman walked in. The woman and one of the men wore lighter armor painted with the colonial colors of Nessus, a white and light blue. The last man however, wore heavier armor, painted with the official colors of the Human Republic's military, a mostly white color with golden accents, some of which were lights coming from the body armor the man wore. On their nameplates their last names were identified as, Dennison, Fredor, and Shepard, respectively.

Each one of them gathered around the holotable, which switched from a map of the city, to a blueprint of the Vault. Once they were situated, the Major began speaking. "We all know what is going on. An alien force attacked us without reason, or explanation. They outnumber us on this world an estimated 10 to 1, not counting our frames. We don't stand a chance against them out in the open city, so we will let the frames weaken them while each one of your companies sets up defensive positions, and fortifies each of the three entrances into the Vault. Lieutenant Dennison, you will take your company to the south western entrance and defend it, fallback as you see fit, we cannot afford to lose ground, but we cannot afford to lose men either." The LT nodded her head, and at Anderson's orders, she left the room to prepare her men.

David took a breath to prepare to speak again. "Lieutenant Fredor, you will take your company to the south eastern entrance, and perform the same orders as given to Dennison. Dismissed." With a quick salute, Fredor left the room, leaving just Shepard and Anderson. "Shepard, your men have the best training, seeing as they are marines instead of the militia, you will defend the most vital entrance, the North entrance. Unfortunately I can't give you the same cushion I gave the others. You need to defend that area at all costs, only retreating if absolutely vital. Any questions?"

Shepard thought for a moment before coming up with a question. "You said down here we are outnumbered 10 to 1. What about our ships how would they be able to help us down here?"

It was a good question. But the answer was one that the Major hated. He knew that their 'fleet' was horribly outnumbered. Having only ten ships was detrimental to the military, but due to the indecisiveness of HIGHCOM, the creation of more has been on hold for a long time. Humanity had the money and resources to build plenty more, but the command structure had been split down the middle for too long. The majority of HIGHCOM officials wanted to play the long defensive game, believing that the Warsats were all the Solar System needed, and they feared that the populace would think that the Government was becoming too powerful, while he and a few others said that it was foolish to not have any offensive capabilities. Looks like he was right.

"I'll say it plainly. Our fleet is outnumbered. While the effectiveness of the Warsats has been noted, and the main arsenal of the warships are similar to the defense grid, they are simply too few to should have built more. But the damn politicians that managed to get into HIGHCOM have prevented that." Anderson explained, a sigh of disappointment finishing off the statement.

John Shepard was silent for a moment. "No further questions sir. We will hold out as long as necessary."

"That is all I ask Lieutenant. Kick their asses for me."

With a final salute, Shepard left the room.

A beeping began to come from one of the many terminals in the operations center. It was the tactical map for the battle happening in the stratosphere, it seemed that a large amount of the enemy fighters were _turning away from the battle_. With a frown, Anderson called out. "What am I looking at here Magellan?"

The Warminds voice came through the speakers in the room, David still found it weird how Warminds weren't given avatars, you just spoke to the room and they responded. " _Enemy fighter contingent is heading towards the Warsat grid. Due to the purpose of Warsats, they cannot take out enemy fighters. The integrity of the defense grid is being threatened."_

"Dammit! Do what you can Magellan, we have to buy ourselves more time!" The Major said, slamming his fist into a table.

" _Affirmative Major. Do you wish to activate the DESPERATE TIMES Contingency?"_

Anderson frowned. The Desperate Times Contingency was a new one just installed on all colonies half a year ago. It was based off of some nanotech built by Clovis Bray, but the need to know level on it was so high Anderson didn't know what it entailed. "No. I won't trust anything I don't know about. Only activate it if this room is in the process of being breached."

" _Affirmative."_

Major Anderson looked once more at the map, watching the icons of the three companies speed their way towards their assigned objectives. "Good luck out there. All of you."

 **Nessus, Solar System**

 **August 10th, 2479**

 **0950 Hours**

 **Northern Vault Entrance, New Dawn**

The rain had begun to pour in droves, lightning cracked through the scan, illuminating the battle in the sky that was slowly dying down. In favor of the aliens. Balls of fire rained from space, the ruined hunks of Warsats crashing into buildings and streets. The loud crashing echoing towards the defenders of this bastion.

Shepard looked around at his men spread across the courtyard. Usually when the whole company was together there would be laughing and jokes all around. But not today, they all knew that not many of them would make it out of this battle alive. The Lieutenant looked down at his white and gold armor, and with a quick tap on his tactical pad built into the arm, a shimmer went across his suit as the colors changed from the official marine colors, to an urban camouflage design.

It had been said hundreds of times that the invention of programmable matter, as well as shaders, has been the greatest technological advancement for the common foot soldier. The ability to carry more gear than ever before, and change armor colors on a whim have proven to be priceless to the Marines.

Looking around once more towards his men, he saw a similar shimmer spread across all of them, and soon enough he could barely see them without the help of his HUD. While the company awaited the arrival of the enemy, they were checking their armor and weapons, small flashes of light broke through the night as the men pulled their weapons out of the digital realm they were stored in.

Within Shepard's hands he had the Icarus-D029. It was a pulse rifle built from the factories at the Solar Farm called Icarus on Mercury. The station was the first of its kind, though by now dozens have followed. Built from tech shown to Humanity by the Traveler, Icarus collected Solar energy and turned it into Solar Light, an energy form that burns hotter than any incendiary round that could be fired from a ballistic weapon. The factories turned the Solar Light into a liquid, which would be loaded into a magazine that would fuel the weapon.

The weapon was a sleek design, with rings around the barrel acting as magnetic accelerators that would propel the trio of solar beams out of the barrel. The solar beam was created from the liquid that Icarus created. Micro converters heating the liquid into plasma, then launching it through the accelerators, towards whatever poor target the gun was pointed at.

John had more than just the pulse rifle however. At his hip he had a sidearm, though it was a regular kinetic one rather than an energy weapon. On his back, attached to the magnetic plate, was a grenade launcher. The grenades were specialized just as the pulse rifle was. Each grenade held a strong electronic charge within it, another new energy type given by the Traveler, this arc energy, upon detonation, would fry any tech, as well as truly electrocute any nearby organics.

"SIR! Enemy dropships are approaching!" One of his soldiers yelled towards him.

Sure enough, when he looked up, dozens of dropships began to descend towards the city. The vast majority heading to their location, while a decent amount headed to the other two entrances to the facility. As they neared the city, automated AA fire controlled by the Warmind lit up the night, sending a few fireballs that were once troop transports hurtling down towards the ground. The response the enemy made in reaction to the new threat was immediate, the ships, instead of pushing straight towards the bunkers, they began to descend to the locations with the least amount of fire, just as the Warmind had planned. Once the aliens landed, they would be onset by hundreds of frames. By the time they reached the bunkers, they would already be at a lower combat readiness.

It was only a few seconds after the majority of the dropships disappeared from view behind the urban skyline that the gunfire erupted across the city. _Now it is just a waiting game_ Shepard mused as he crouched behind cover, signaling for all his men to do the same.

 **1033 Hours  
Northern Vault Entrance, New Dawn**

It was less than an hour later when the echoes of footsteps and wheels traversed the streets and made it towards the defender's ears. A slight ripple went through the company as the shifted to get a better view on the streets leading into the courtyard. The only sounds that were present were the echoes and the pattering of rain hitting the cement. The thunderstorm had died down in the last hour, leaving only a slight rainfall that left a mist hovering above the ground.

" _This is Spire-One I have eyes on a target. Permission to engage?"_ The comm channel crackled to life, one of the companies snipers, situated on a scaffolding balcony that had been placed to help repair the door to the vault, had seen a target through his thermal scope.

"Permission granted Spire-One. Light em up." The Lieutenant responded. Not even a second later, a high pitched ring shattered the eerie silence. The railgun that snipers are now equipped with fire a beam of Solar Energy at nearly the speed of light. The orange beam shot into the rain and mist, evaporating the falling water as it passed, leaving a trail of water vapor through the air. A loud cry rang out, and an explosion was visible just beyond the wall of mist that had seemingly built up.

 _Huh. Never seen what solar energy does to living targets before. Explosion seems a bit much though._ Shepard thought with a shrug. Any other thoughts he might have had were interrupted by all hell breaking loose, as in response to the loss of one of their own, the alien bastards sent a wall of rounds heading towards them.

Shields began flaring all across the company as the endless stream unavoidably found targets. Out of the mist, a virtual army of aliens came sprinting, right into a courtyard of minimal cover. The company had removed anything that could be used to shield their opponents, though the small walls and stairs were still there, they didn't have time to rip up the infrastructure.

As soon as the company had visible targets, they began to fight back. Streams of energy round and kinetic rounds alike shot towards the attackers, who when hit, blue shields flared. However, those shields did next to nothing against the energy beams. When they were hit, the barriers seemed to stop the main force of the round, but the heat from solar rounds burned through the armor, weakening it, and in some cases making it to burn the flesh, the void rounds did much the same with weakening the armor, but did not burn flesh, but the arc rounds, when they hit, the plasma particles were stopped, but the electricity phased through the barrier, arced across their armors and fried circuits, weaponry, and shields.

Red mist became the new norm for the courtyard as plenty of the aliens were shredded as the ran towards the slight cover that a small wall that separated a lower section of the courtyard from the higher section gave. Suppressive fire was continued from the defenders, as the aliens who dared attack their homes were forced to keep their heads down to survive.

"Yezuka! Use your grenade launcher and flush em out!" Shepard yelled over the comms to their main heavy weapons expert, Chun Yezuka.

"With pleasure LT!" Came the response. The man stood up and lifted his launcher. He fired two grenades before everything turned to shit. Out of the fog that began to rise from all the heat mixing with the rain, a headlight shown, and a gunship flew into view.

"GET INTO COVER NOW YEZUKA!" Shepard called out. But it was too late. The gunship turned on the man and unleashed hell. A bloody rain showered across the men who were nearby as the heavy weapons man was torn to pieces. Their shields weren't meant to stand up against heavy vehicles.

"INCOMING!" Another shout came as a tank shell wiped out a section of cover. The men who were behind the cover were nowhere to be seen.

Shepard looked around frantically. A gunship that had flown below the AA and a tank had them pinned. To his left an Exo soldier stood up and fired a rocket into the gunship, the explosion disabled its shields.

"Focus fire on the gunship!" Shepard yelled out to the company. Nearly half the company began to fire their weapons on the ship, fires began to spread across it, but before it went down, two rockets were launched, colliding with sections of the company. Body parts and a bloody mist spread out from the points of impact.

Due to the vehicles distracting the company, with half distracted by the gunship and the other removing the tank from the fight, the aliens had begun advancing again, grenades and rounds tearing apart their cover.

"Keep fighting!" Shepard order, with most of the cover gone in the courtyard, it was a massacre. Both sides had dozens of men firing at each other while standing in the open. A beam of light from Spire-One tore apart an alien that was different from the rest. It was a lot larger.

Shepard fired his weapon at any alien that seemed to be getting too close. His solar rounds not even letting the aliens bleed. As his bursts broke through their barriers and tore through their bodies, they simply burst into flames and dissolved into ash. His men were barely better. While they had better armor and shields, the sheer number of opponents were tearing them apart.

"Anderson!" Shepard yelled over the gunfire into his comms. "We have more than one species here!" He informed the Major. No response came, though he didn't expect one.

John's eyes widened as he saw a rocket flying towards him. He quickly dodged out of the way, and the rocket collided with the bottom of Spire-One's scaffolding, which quickly collapsed.

"Spire-One!?" Shepard attempted to raise the man. "Spire-One do you read!?". No response came. Only static.

Turning back around, he let out a startled yell as one of the aliens was right in front of him, raising its gun to smash him with it. Shepard struck at the same time the zeno did. Their guns colliding and flying away from them. With a yell of anger Shepard charged the bastard in front of him, tackling him to the ground before activating the energy dagger at his wrist. He attempted to slam the glowing blade into the creature beneath him's faceplate, but the pinned combatant deflected the blade to the side, sinking it into the concrete. Before Shepard could respond, his opponent flipped him over so he was stuck on the bottom, and pulled out a wicked looking combat knife, it seemed to be made to inflict maximum pain to those stabbed with it. Serrated edges and small bumps built throughout the flat section of the blade meant to stimulate pain nerves as much as possible.

Before the alien could ram it into his neck, a gunshot went off, while its' barriers saved it, it still flinched enough to miss its' target. Shepard spared a glance over to the man who saved his life, and tried to yell a warning but it was too late. One of the large aliens hit his savior with a hammer-like weapon, the snapping of the man's bones couldn't be heard over the fighting, but the next hit, which caved in his skull, resounded through the battlefield, though nobody noticed but Shepard.

Rage flowed through the Lieutenant as he watched his men die all around him. With is scream of rage and pain, he threw off the alien on top of him, pulled his sidearm, and fired half a magazine into the beast's chest before ripping off its helmet to fire the other half. What he saw was a ridged forehead and four eyes. An image that Humanity would learn to hate.

Once the creature's head was only a pulpy mess, Shepard stood up once more and shouted into his comms. "All units! Fall back into the Bunker!"

Nobody asked a question, but nobody from the company ran either, everybody walked backwards firing into the enemy lines to hold them back as the Vault's doors began to close as the final survivors made their way into the Vault.

 **1100 Hours**

 **Chamber 3: Frame Factory Ops Center**

 **Company Strength: 55%**

After the Vault was closed, Shepard ordered his men to fall back a few chamber blocks, give them some room to breathe. Currently the monitors that were in this room which just earlier this day showed the operational status of the factory below, now showed camera angles of the courtyard outside. One white and grey concrete and marble, the courtyard was soaked with red and orange blood. The attackers had pushed back the other companies as well, though the militiamen had taken less casualties than the marines, they had retreated sooner and had less opponents to fight.

He looked at his weakened company, all of them sitting and relaxing, either drinking water or eating was few protein bars they had while they waited for the enemy to break through. Just ten minutes ago the Warmind informed them that twenty more hostile ships had came through the alien artifact. _I guess the fifty ships jumped the gun_ Shepard thought to himself as he started through the cameras. The enemy fighters had punched a large enough hole in the defense grid for the larger dropships to come in. Rather than shuttles or gunships, whole freighters landed planetside, how they would get off again, Shepard didn't know.

"Attention men!" Shepard called out.

Without hesitation, man, woman, machine, it didn't matter which, all turned towards him. Waiting to see was would say.

Shepard sighed and removed his helmet before beginning to speak. "I am going to give it to you plainly. We got clobbered out there, but we hit them just as hard. We all lost friends, people who we considered brothers, and sisters, died out there in the rain. But we can't forget what we are fighting for. We are fighting for those people, hundreds of meters below us. Who are terrified of what might happen. We are fighting for our families back home wherever they might live. If we fail here, they won't stop at Nessus, they will continue past the Jovian moons, towards Mars! Earth! Venus! Mercury! You name a world or moon and they will go there to stomp us out! We CANNOT let that happen! We WILL not let it happen! Now! When they come through those doors, when they march through those halls on their way to us, we, will, not, FALTER." Shepard spoke, giving his first ever combat speech.

His company burst into cheers and stood up, brandishing their weapons into the air. Their morale had taken a serious toll from the first battle.

"While we defend this bunker, we won't stay put like we did last time. These factories can be rebuilt, their data has already been wiped by Magellan. We will fight, lay traps, and retreat to the next location before they get into the brawl we barely got out of last time. Are we clear?" Shepard told and asked his men,

"Sir YES SIR!" They all saluted.

" _Enemy Forces have breached the Vault. Activating SIEGE PROTOCOL."_ Magellan's voice rang through the room. The cameras on the screens stopped showing the door, which was now a smoking wreck due to explosives, and showed the entry hallway, which was now a battleground between frames, turrets, and the attacking aliens. Though everyone could see which side was winning the fight as the turrets were blown apart, and frames shut down.

The once blue hued halls turned red as alert lights went off and klaxons sounded. Without speaking, the company once more got into position. Though this time only one door entered this room, and once exited behind them. The screens went black as power diverted from this room to avoid excessive power waste from destroyed terminals.

A string of pops echoed through the room as a man cracked his neck and knuckles. After the sound faded everything was silent once more. The soldiers were looking at each other as they waited, Shepard's nerves grew with every minute as the gunfire got louder. "Magellan, what do we have coming our way?" He asked the Warmind over the company channel.

" _Alien forces are letting a group of mechanized infantry lead the assault. Their frames have more durable armor than ours, but are less intelligent or mobile. Largest detected threat is the larger mech. Rocket launcher and machine gun armaments. Weak points detected under the arms and legs, taking out the optical sensor is also recommended."_ The AI answered him.

Not responding to the Warmind, Shepard walked out of the cover he had and pulled out his grenade launcher. He pointed it towards the door and awaited the arrival of the mech. The gunfire outside of the room stopped, a loud metallic sound made its way closer to the door. A nervous shiver went through his men as the footsteps stopped right outside the door.

A loud crash rang out and the door buckled inwards. A few seconds later another crash reverberated around the room and the door flew backwards, shattering the glass and falling into the factory below.

 **THWUMP**

Shepard's grenade launcher sent an arc bomb downrange targeting the massive machine that ducked through the massive hole it had punched into the wall. Upon collision with the mech the grenade detonated, leaving a massive electric discharge floating in the air like a net around the hunk of metal. Arc energy traversed the surface of the frame has its' shields were fried and circuits overloaded. Eventually the massive influx of energy was too much for the machine to bear, and it overloaded, collapsing to the ground fried.

Hopping back into cover, Shepard signalled for his men to open fire on the door right as the aliens started charging in. Blood and ashes began to mix as the aliens were cut down as they entered the room, a pile of bodies had built up before they stopped charging in. The gunfire stopped as they awaited their opponent's next move.

They didn't have to wait long as an arm reached into the room and picked up one of the bodies. One of the big aliens then charged into the room, firing a machine gun from one hand as it used the other to hold the body as a shield. Three more of the big guys followed suit, the same strategy helping them survive the door as well before all four of them found cover, behind which they started firing all sorts of heavy weapons towards the Marines. With a distraction made, reinforcements followed through the door, all discharging their weapons towards Shepard's company. Blood splattered over his visor as the man next to him's shields overloaded and a headshot blew off his head.

 _Dammit!_ Shepard raged as he wiped the blood off. In retaliation for the loss of his fellow soldier Shepard launched another three grenades from over his cover. Screams sounded as the aliens were fried by the electric grenades.

The communication channel for his company was lighting up as the defenders helped support one another as slowly but surely the aliens started making progress. The more advanced technology that Shepard's men were using were inflicting heavy casualties, but the numbers were too much, and the counterfire made sure that the outnumbered Marines were losing more and more of their numbers.

" _Shepard!"_ Major Anderson's voice came into a private channel.

"What is it Major? I am in the middle of something!"

" _Retreat to the bridge! The militiamen have taken too many casualties and are being forced back here! If you don't retreat soon you will be cut off!"_ The Major's voice sounded desperate.

"Roger that Sir!" Shepard responded before going back into his company channel. "Everyone retreat towards the bridge! The outer chambers have been overrun!" Acknowledgements rang out as the soldiers fell back in such a way as to cover each other as they ran towards the exit, the door opening to reveal a corridor filled with frames that would cover their retreat.

Once they exited the factory control center, they turned around and ran full sprint to get to their destination. Though there were three entrances to the Vault, those halls and chambers all eventually combined into one hallway which led into the core. The 'Bridge' was the only one leading from the entrances to the core, spanning the open expanse between the tunnels that the first segment was made of and the pyramidal structure that housed the core. On the other side of the pyramid was another bridge that led into the Civilian bunker.

It took 5 minutes for the company to make their way towards the elevators that would take them to the Core Access corridor. Once the remaining men had gotten onto the lifts, they took them down, a thirty second ride lowering them over a hundred meters into the rocks. Upon arrival, they exited the lifts to find what remained of the militia companies walking to the bridge.

Shepard ran up to one of the men. "Where are Lieutenants Dennison and Fredor?"

The man looked at John with a haunted look. "They are gone sir. Dennison died at the door, and Fredor fell during our retreat back here. Most of our officers are gone. You are the last ranking official we've got besides the Major."

"Dammit!" Shepard cursed. "Alright.". Shepard didn't speak again until all the men were on the bridge.

"Alright. This is the last stand here men. We will hold out here until the last man falls. Fight with everything you have. If you die, get over it and keep fighting. Nobody dies here without my permission do you all understand that!?"

"SIR YES SIR!" Came the response from all remaining soldiers. As they went to kneel behind cover and await their opponents.

Only time would tell how many would survive. If any.

 **Sub-light Travel, Solar System**

 **August 10th, 2479**

 **1110 Hours**

 _ **Ironclad Resolve**_ **, Flagship of the 1st Fleet.**

Admiral Steven Hackett had just received permission to take the fleet of ten ships to Nessus. Even though now there were seventy ships instead of fifty, they still had a duty to defend the Solar System. The only chance they had was the hope that their more advanced weaponry would be able to clear the sixty ship difference in the two fleets.

"Admiral! Eta is one minute until arrival." An ensign called over to him.

"Alright show time people! Heat up the antimatter particle beams as well as load missile bays A through D. Get the point defense systems operational, and tell the fighters squadrons to prepare for launch." Hackett ordered. A tactical screen showing the locations of the enemy vessels.

A series of acknowledgements followed his order, and the clamor of men running around the bridge found its' way to his ears. The next seconds passed too quickly in his opinion as the Sub-light stream they were travelling in faded away to show the enemy fleet directly ahead.

"All fighters launcher! Launch missile pods A1 through A10 and fire the particle beam at the closest threat!" The Admiral ordered to those on the bridge. Seconds later, missiles and fighters streamed ahead of the ship charging towards their targets as a red hue began to build at nose of the vessel. The sight was repeated across the other 9 Human vessels.

Hostile fighters began to stream out of their ships and patrols rushing at the oncoming assault. A few seconds passed until the red hue reached a critical mass, and a pure red beam tore across the void faster than the eye could see. The beam tore through the frigate analogue vessel as if it was tissue paper, the beam continuing to travel tearing apart another two ships that were stuck in the formation line behind the frigate. As the antimatter beams were propelled out of the rest of the fleet, a total of 15 ships were destroyed or disabled. Explosions began to ripple between the fleets as the fighter battle started in earnest.

The invader's formation began to shift from facing the planet to face towards the reinforcements sent to save the moon. Mass Accelerator rounds flew towards the fleet, many colliding and being repelled by the flagship's shields.

"Shields at 85% Admiral!"

"Mass accelerators are ready to fire!"

The calls rang in the Admiral's ears. "Good! Fire the accelerators towards their dreadnought! Charge the solar cannons and arc streams. Launch the void torpedos towards the nearest enemy frigates!"

The ship shuddered as 6 tungsten rounds shot from the vessel heading towards the enemy flagship. An abyssal cry echoed as torpedo tubes launched four balls of void energy that began to track their targets.

The enemy fleet just minutes into the battle was visibly in fear. The technology wasn't the only advantage the Human ships had. They were also all much larger than the enemies. The largest alien vessel clocked in at one kilometer, the smallest human ship was 2.5 kilometers, with the _Ironclad Resolve_ sitting at an impressive 4 kilometers.

Though fearing for their lives, the enemy wasn't done fighting yet. Dozens of torpedos and mass accelerator rounds began flying towards the smaller fleet. They seemed to be focus firing, as all the missiles and half the rounds were heading on a collision course with the _Solar Fury_. The point defense weapons went off all across the ship shooting down the missiles as they neared, but inevitably some made it through, their detonations creating graviton fluctuations not unlike void energy.

"Shields on the _Solar Fury_ are down to 25%! Those missiles pack a punch Admiral!"

"Tell the _Fury_ to pull back a bit a let their shields recharge!" Hackett ordered, but it was too late. Another volley of rounds took down the vessel's shields and tore through its' body. The sheer amount of rounds overloaded the fusion reactor, which detonated the ship into a massive fireball.

The bridge was silent as they saw the explosion. Without the element of surprise that they had with the first volley, the outnumbered fleet would be hard pressed to take out the enemy fleet before they lost the remaining nine ships.

"Solar and Arc cannons are charged sit." An Ensign said breaking the silence.

"Target the nearest enemy vessels." Hackett said, turning away from the fading ball of fire.

With a nod, the Ensign put in the targeting parameters, two orange beams fired, disintegrating the vessels they hit. After the solar cannons discharged, four lightning bolts rocketed forwards, each targeting a ship on a different side of the enemy's formation. Upon contact, the bolts arced towards other ships in the fleet, a net of electricity spread across the enemy formation as shields were overloaded.

"Hit em with everything we got!" Hackett yelled.

Hundreds of missiles, pulse beams, and cannon shots began to advance on the enemy, the point defense cannons on their vessels were too spread thin to stop all of the fire heading their way, though they did get close. Nearly 24 enemy vessels were put out of action with that assault, but Hackett had hoped for more.

The retaliation was intense, the shields of the Human vessels were already low from constant fire, but now they were disabled on four of the remaining nine ships, fires spread across them, and with a klaxon going off, the _Ironclad Resolve_ 's shields went down.

"We just lost the _Strength and Conquest_ as well as the _Heartfelt Pride_!"

"Hull Integrity is at 70%!"

" _Earth's Glory_ has started abandoning ship!"

Everything went to shit after that one successful attack. The numbers of the enemy were too much, and Hackett played all his cards. The Antimatter beam has been doing heavy damage, but it couldn't be fired often, and it didn't help when the ships had managed to dodge the kinetic fire the Humans launched at them.

"Um sir? We have a large signal heading our way!" An officer yelled over from the sensors.

"What is it?" Hackett asked, but before the officer could respond, a huge flash went off and resting in between the two fleets was the Traveler.

"Holy shit!" Steven exclaimed. Everything was silent as the Traveler began to move.

 **Unnamed System**

 **August 10th, 2479**

 **1150 Hours**

 **Batarian Dreadnought** _ **Pillar's Strength**_

The battle was a disaster for both sides, the advanced tech from those monstrous ships had taken a huge toll on the Batarian fleet, but at the loss of nearly half of their own ships. But now a huge object, larger than the Citadel, floated between the two sides. All fire from either side had stopped as it sat there.

"Uh sir? What is that?" An officer asked Gocpetor.

"I have no idea." Came the reply.

It was a massive white sphere, with disks seemingly carved into the sides, their purpose was anyones guess, but the Admiral thought they would soon find out.

The white disks began to move, extending out from the sphere, showing a metallic inside. Energy began to build up around the disks, and a few moments later, the disks slammed back into the object, a huge wave of energy hurling towards their fleet.

"EVASIVE MANEUVERS NOW!" Devethk yelled, but it would be useless. The wave hit the first line of the slaver's formation, disintegrating every vessel it touched. The Batarian Admiral closed his eyes as the wave neared his ship. And felt nothing when the darkness overcame him.

 **Nessus, Solar System**

 **August 10th, 2479**

 **2000 Hours**

 **Magellan's Core, New Dawn**

 **Defender Strength: 10%**

Shepard crouched behind cover once again. He had long since rang out of grenade launcher and sidearm ammo, and he was running low with his pulse rifle. The vast majority of the defenders have long since died on this bridge. Anderson had told him that reinforcements arrived, but they still had to fight their way down to this bridge, and they might not make it in time.

Peaking up, the Marine scoped in on an advancing alien, the burst turned the thing into ashes. Blood was pooled on the bridge, hundreds of bodies were littered around, with the attackers actually having to march over their dead to continue to push forward.

" _Shepard just hold on out there! The Desperate Times contingency has been activated! You should have help soon!"_ Anderson yelled over the comms.

 _What the hell is Desperate Times?_ Mused the Lieutenant as he continued to fire on the enemy. He didn't have to wait long to figure it out however, as soon after the Major informed him of it, every intact, and destroyed frame on the bridge began to shake, and a chamber within the chest opened up, revealing a black pyramid with red accents. With a red flash, the pyramid released red tendrils that wrapped around the mechs. The blue optics turned red as and all the destroyed frames _repaired themselves_.

"What the hell!" Was yelled by one of the remaining militiamen. The sentiment was shared by John. Red streams of nanobots began to overtake the mechs used by the enemies as well, which promptly turned on their creators. Any damage taken by the machines was simply repaired, arms torn off by bullets rebuilt.

"PUSH FORWARD!" John yelled, leaping over his cover and firing upon the enemy. He was quickly followed by the few remaining men he had with him. The enemy began to get pushed back, slowly but surely. With the nano-enhanced mechs and the defenders charging forward, the battle soon became a firefight at point blank range as the enemy's commanders refused to let them retreat.

Crack!

John saw a flash and stumbled backwards. Looking down at his armor, he saw a hole punched straight through his chest. Looking around, he saw the sniper responsible get destroyed by a frame wielding a shotgun. Giving a slight chuckle at watching the alien die, John collapsed, to weak to move as the gunfire slowly faded away.

A sound of stomping feet sounded, and soon a medic was leaning over him. "You are going to be okay! Don't fall asleep on me soldier!" She said frantically as she tried to halt the bleeding.

"It's…" Shepard coughed up blood as she removed his helmet. "It's alright. What… what is your name?" He asked, struggling to keep his sentences flowing.

The woman grabbed his hand as she answered. "Ikora… Ikora Rey."

John gasped for breath, he was running out of time. "Can you do something for me Ikora?'

"Of course, anything." She said, squeezing his hand tightly to keep him focused.

"Find my sister and mom, they live on Earth. My mom's name is…" He spat blood again, he had to finish this sentence. "Hannah! Her name is Hannah! My sister is Maria! Can you tell them I love them. Please!" Shepard struggled out.

"Of course!" Ikora had responded, tears beginning to go down her face.

"Thank… you" John tried to say, he wasn't sure if he succeeded as he faded into darkness, feeling at peace for the first time all day.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Thank you all for the support from last chapter, and I hope you guys like this chapter, it was already mostly done by the time I posted the first one, I just had some finishing touches. To respond to some of your comments, I am not sure if the Collapse will happen in the sense that it did during the game, but Guardians will show up eventually. And I won't speak much on the subject, but I do have a plan for the Destiny aliens.**

 **There was one comment that for some reason I can't find on my CPU I'm not sure if it was deleted or not, but it spoke about how I miscalculated the number of ships Humanity would have and I understand why you would think that. But when I was making the chapter, I thought of how Humanity should have more warships, but chose to give them few to keep in line with what we know about Destiny lore. Throughout the game and grimoire cards, there is only references to the Warsats, nowhere was I able to find anything about the Golden Age having full on warships and I understand why. The Golden Age didn't have FTL, so they were stuck in the Solar System, there was no real reason for them to have fleets, when the Warsats would do. But to make the Golden Age fit with the ME races, I had to give them a few ships.**

 **Anyone, thank you all for reading, and let me know what you think with a comment, I really do appreciate whatever criticism, or compliments you might give.**

 **-BlindedSentry**


	3. War Preparations

**First off I want to apologize for the late chapter. I had most of this typed up, but I hadn't been able to finish it before classes started, and mix those with work and I didn't have much time to finish it until now.**

 **Comment Responses:**

 **Guest: I understand that the Warsats have more uses than being orbital defense weapons, but from the view of the soldiers on the ground the only ones they care about during the fight are the weapons. I understand why you feel like I don't understand my Destiny lore, but I do. I will admit that when researching about Human FTL in Destiny, I misunderstood what I read and believed that it was sublight speed, so I agree it was a mistake not putting FTL in, but I had always planned on adding it in later, now I have simply changed the plan of how it is involved.**

 **Guest #2: I can see why you think that I underestimate Golden Age tech, but I believe that you are also overestimating it, technology isn't the only thing that wins battles. Throughout the chapter, it was shown how Humanity had the better tech and gear, the only reason they were getting pushed back were numbers and training. I wrote the previous chapter from the view of Shepard and the soldiers, and in a war, they would see their own losses as intense and while fighting a vastly larger force, would be nervous, no matter the tech they have. Secondly, yes, the Warminds can fuck up enemies, when given the chance. But weapons in space still follow certain rules, they are still ineffective at a certain range, and weapons made to eliminate starships are not useful against fighter analogue craft. I wrote in the chapters about how the Batarians had stayed at the safest distance they could so they didn't get blasted by the defense grid. The fighters destroyed warsats so they couldn't bombard the troops on the ground, and even if turrets and frames are controlled by an AI they can still be destroyed.**

 **I plan on writing Humanity as powerful as they are meant to be, but even powerful armies can be defeated.**

 **I apologize if anything in this story confuses you, and I will always try to respond with these notes if you have corrections or criticisms, in the cases of these two reviews, I understand why they said what they said, but I have a reasoning for why I wrote this why, I didn't simply forget about Destiny lore (except for the FTL, that was my bad.).**

 **Just a reminder, Dates and times will be in the Human timescale.**

 _I don't own Destiny or Mass Effect_

 **The Citadel, Serpent Nebula**

 **August 11th, 2479**

 **0700 Hours**

 **Council Meeting Room, The Presidium**

Councillor Tevos walked into the room, where her fellow two Councillors awaited her. Councillor Valern had called the meeting at an extremely short notice, citing it as one of extreme importance. The room was beautiful, planets hanging from the ceiling, with windows looking out to the Presidium, C-SEC always complained about the room, stating that it was too easily accessible, but the Councillors dismissed the claim. Nobody was strong enough to invade the Citadel, and nobody was daft enough to try and assassinate the Councillors.

"Ah, Councillor Tevos, how nice of you to join us, we were about to start without you." Sparatus droned. His voice sounded upset about her tardiness, and his body language of cross arms and a stern face cemented that fact.

Tevos nodded in the man's direction, showing that she understood his underlying message. "I apologize Sparatus, The alert caught me at a bad time, I was in a meeting with Matriarch Benezia concerning a problem on Thessia."

The Turian Councillor was about to respond, but Valern interrupted. "No time for discussing minor details, we have much to discuss now." The Salarian's voice sounded almost… worried, the thought of her fellow Councillor learning something big enough to worry him sent shivers down her spine.

"What's wrong Valern?" Tevos asked him, concern lacing her voice.

The Salarian walked over to a terminal and typed in a few commands, and on a large screen, a map of the galaxy showed up, with a circle surrounding an area of the galaxy that, so far, has not been explored. There were known mass relays to get there, but after the Rachni War it became illegal to open up new relays, as to avoid another incident.

"A few weeks ago, an STG probe discovered a signal originating from somewhere in this area of space. Due to the large amounts of pirates and mercenaries near that region, the STG had assumed that it was simply a pirate outpost that was built out farther than normal, though they decided to keep an eye on it." Valern started, Tevos and Sparatus both knew this. Valern had brought it up during one of their scheduled meetings to see if Sparatus wanted to order a few patrols to the area.

With a breath, the Councillor continued. "And as you both also know, a series of relays have been activated in that region, though the patrols sent said they couldn't find anything, and believed it was just pirates testing the Council's patience."

Tevos frowned at his wording. "'Believed'? Has something changed?"

Valern let out a sigh and took a drink before responding. "Yes. Something big has changed. Last night STG got word from one of our, _ahem_ , 'agents' that informed of vast amounts of Hegemony troop movements and fleet build-ups. The agent reported that around 70 ships went into the region, and a few hours later lost all contact. He couldn't get his hands on the reports of what the fleet reported, but he does know that the fleet was declared lost with all hands."

Tevos paled at that and Sparatus sat straight up at that news. They all knew the agents that Valern spoke of. A few years ago a group that worked under the Hegemony approached the Council and revealed themselves as an anti-slavery faction within the Batarian regime. They had offered to send reports to the Council on Batarian actions in exchange for funding and equipment for an eventual takeover. Seeing as the faction was deeply imbedded into the Hegemony leadership, these reports were more than likely accurate.

With a gulp, Tevos asked the question to which she fear the answer. "Did they start a war at first contact?"

Valern looked towards her, his eyes looked tired. "We don't know. Whatever happened shook up the Batarian military leadership so much they put a tight grasp on things, the only thing we know is 70 ships left, and none returned."

Silence reigned within the chamber. It seemed like everything stopped moving or making noise, not even the air vents made a sound. Then, like a bomb going off on a silent night, the door opened and a Salarian ran into the room panting.

The man bent down and began to suck in air while the Councillors stared at him. Valern walked forward. "What's the problem Major?!" Urgency was in his voice.

The Salarian stood and saluted towards the Councillor. "Another report came in from the agents sir. The Hegemony is gearing for total war. Factories are being put on overtime, civilians all across their territory are being drafted, and they are working on hiring a contingent from _every_ major mercenary group in the Terminus.

Sparatus shot out of the chair he was in. "Do we know the exact reason besides whatever happened through the relays!?"

The STG Major shook his head. "No sir. Though the agent did say that they were putting men into the military. They plan on sending us footage from wherever they are going."

The three galactic leaders shared a glance. The Batarians kicked a nest and the nest fought back. Sparatus' next words showed what all of them felt. "May the Spirits help us."

 **Earth, The Solar System**

 **August 11th, 2479**

 **1200 Hours**

 **Jacob Hardy Private High School, New York City**

It was everyone's second favorite part of the day, only trumped by the bell signalling that school was over. Lunch. With today being the first day of school, Maria stood awkwardly after getting her food, looking for her friends that sat somewhere in this crowded room. She wore a simple hoodie that currently covered her face. She didn't want people to see the worry and fear that she felt all day.

The news about Nessus spread like wildfire. Though the military tried to contain the majority of news from leaking out, an alien invasion isn't something that can be hidden very well from the public, especially when they attack a colony. With the news blackout and military silence that was forced upon Nessus, Maria heard nothing from her brother.

Her mother was as much as a nervous wreck as she was, which was surprising. Hannah Shepard was once a military officer herself, but retired after the murder of the Alex Shepard. Maria's father. He had been a scientist with the company that has long been working on FTL travel, New Beyond Laboratories. One day he was found with a broken neck laying in his office, bruises around his neck showing he was also strangled.

Now her mother was the Phys Ed. teacher at this very high school, a fact that Maria finds embarrassing during gym class. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of her friends waving her hand to show where they were sitting at. The brunette quickly made her way over to the table and sat down, where she was immediately beseeched by a tidal wave of questions from her friends.

"Have you heard anything from John!?"

"Are you okay?!"

"Why did you come today!?"

"Do you know what happened!?"

Maria held up a hand to shut them up before they made her head explode. She simply shook her head to stop the tears the threatened to come out. She had always had pride about how little she cried, and considered herself stronger than most teenage girls, but the threat of losing her brother while she is 17 was putting a crack in her emotions.

"Please don't bring it up. I am barely holding together as it is." She practically begged, though it sounded more like a simple request.

Her friends looked down meekly before apologizing for the blunt questions. Most of the remaining time of lunch was spent in silence. After their initial outburst, they respected her desire to stay silent. The same mood was spread across the entire cafeteria however, not just their table. On the usual first day of school the teens would be laughing and talking with people they hadn't seen all summer, and glaring at others who they wished they never had to see again. But with the news of the attack, most of them were on their phones, the holographic displays lighting up the cafeteria as many projected any news articles they could find to read more.

Hardy High School was a private school for children or siblings of military personnel only. The vast majority of students had a personal stake in the attack now, whether they had family fighting on the ground or in space, or even if their family members are just being deployed into high alert in response to the threat of another incursion.

Maria spent most of the lunch period just staring at her food, not really having the appetite to eat anything. She practically jumped in her seat when a hand landed tapped her shoulder. Turning around she saw the staff member in charge of monitoring the cafeteria. The woman, known for being a hardass, had a soft look on her face today. _Seems like the attack affected her too_ Maria mused.

"Maria, you are needed in the office." The lady said before walking away.

Her friends gave her a glance before she just shrugged and said "I guess I will so you all later." before she grabbed her bag and turned in her tray to the collection area before walking towards the main office. It wasn't far away, but the walk seemed to take ages, as the same sentence repeated in her head over and over. _Don't be about John! Don't be about John!_. Her pleading within her mind however, was for naught, as she entered the office, the secretary pointed towards a side room, where upon entering, she saw her mother crying, and two marines in dress uniform saluting.

Her heart dropped in her chest and she collapsed into tears next to her mother. One of the marines whispered "I am sorry for your loss." but neither of the Shepards responded. In respect the marines left the room and closed the door.

 **Earth, The Solar System**

 **August 14th, 2479**

 **0800 Hours**

 **HIGHCOM Facility Alpha, Antarctica**

The blizzard raging above the entrance to the subterranean fortress did nothing to halt the plane flying down towards the landing pad. When the aliens had first arrived, HIGHCOM had a meeting over their secure channels, but with the threat temporarily halted, they were able to call a full assembly. In the entire history of the Human Republic, there has only been one other full meeting, which has included all of the military leaders, as well as the Chancellor. Sure there have been minor meetings between certain members, but having all members physically in the same area hasn't happened since the beginning of the Golden Age, a time when he wasn't around.

 _In hindsight, maybe that wasn't a good idea._ Chancellor Gale Clayton thought to himself, steadying himself as a thud resounded through the plane as it landed. He stood up, and covered himself in his coat as the door opened, a frigid gust of wind blew a load of snow into the plane, his bodyguards also stood and led the way out for him. As they walked into the raging blizzard, visibility decreased dramatically. There were lights shining through the snow leading them towards the doors, his bodyguards nothing but shadows in the near distance.

It didn't take long for them to reach the doors, the massive vault like entrance imbued with the symbol of HIGHCOM slowly grinded open, a welcoming party of the on duty base commander and base security walked out to meet them. The security of the base seemed to have substantially better than his marine bodyguards and he frowned. He shook away the negative thoughts on the subject, a valuable location such as this needed more protection that he did, he understood that well enough.

The base Commander made it to them and saluted, the security following suit. "It's a pleasure to meet you Chancellor! I only wish it were under better circumstances!" The man yelled over the storm as they turned to head inside. The wind and noise slowly died down as the walked into the shelter of the bunker, the grinding noise returning as the doors locked down behind them.

The Chancellor then replied to the Commander as the noise died down completely, the only sound left was the soft padding of their footsteps on the metal ground, and the slight banging of the soldiers boots upon the metal. "I do as well Commander Jorah. I had always had the mindset that I didn't need to be fully involved with the Military Council. After what happened on Nessus...Well… I see now that I was wrong. The galaxy just got a whole lot bigger Commander, if I am going to lead us through whatever comes next, I will need more than the standard report."

Commander Jorah Lysander nodded his head in agreement with the civilian leader of the Republic, whose role also technically included being the Commander in Chief, though no Councillor before him took the role seriously either, though now it seemed that would change. Lysander stopped and turned toward him, so Clayton stopped as well.

"I figured I should tell you this now, so as to make sure HIGHCOM doesn't blindside you with it once you are down there." Jorah began, scratching the back of his neck, obviously not sure if he was supposed to tell him, or if the men down below wanted to.

"Go on Commander." Gale pushed, his eyes narrowing.

"We received word just about ten minutes ago that General Harper committed suicide this morning." Lysander informed him.

Gale was shocked and took a step back. General Harper was a HIGHCOM officer, the man in charge of the military's Research and Development programs. Under his leadership teleportation technology and new energy weapons based directly off of fusion were created. For a man of such stature to be gone so suddenly was definitely a great loss. While Gale had only met him once, he knew of Harper's reputation of being a hard man, driven by the need to keep Humanity safe. With his loss, the half of HIGHCOM that desired a smaller military, and less of a budget had a true majority now. Why they still had their seats, the Chancellor did not know, though in the few times he had been sent a issue he directly had to vote on, he usually did vote in their favor. _Another mistake._ The Chancellor berated himself.

"Do we know why?" The man asked Lysander, his voice hardened.

Lysander shrugged. "According to the reports, he had gone crazy and tied up his family, ranting about 'showing them the true next step of evolution'. Apparently he was about to stick them on some spike-like device, before stopping and saying sorry, and he shot himself." The man frowned and shook his head. "It doesn't make sense though sir. I knew the General well, he was always a level headed man, I don't believe he could've gone over the edge so quickly."

The two had begun walking once more, heading towards the lift down to the Council chamber. Gale had his hand on his chin as he thought. "Why those 'spike-like' devices? What do they do?"

Lysander shook his head. "We don't know yet. Law Enforcement sent the devices to military labs for study. They are currently en route, so it will still be a few hours, maybe days until we know."

The leader of the Republic nodded his head in understanding as the two men stopped in front of the door to the elevator. Shaking Lysander's hand, Gale bade the man farewell and entered the lift. His guards, and the base security, turning and standing guard outside as the elevator door shut.

The elevator didn't even feel like it was moving, the only indication the it was descending was the altitude meter on the display. _Strange how out of all the technologies we gained since the Traveler arrived, that one of them was a silent and not vibrating elevators_. Gale mused to himself while smirking. The ride took around half a minute of descending deep into the Earth. And with a hiss, the door opened once more, revealing a hallway leading towards a single door. With a sigh, Gale began to walk towards it, the guards on either side of the hallway saluting as he passed.

Upon reaching the doorway, he entered his code, and gave a retinal scan, before the door unlocked and he entered into the room. The room was of a modest size, a square shape, and well lit. Monitors and other displays shown across the meeting room, informing those who looked upon them of Military status reports across the Solar System. In the center of the room sat a circular table, in the middle of which was a holographic display, currently projecting a map of their system.

There were 10 seats in HIGHCOM, not counting the Chancellor's, all but two of them were here physically. First of those present was the Irish General MacRivvel, easily distinguished by his red hair, and Scottish accent. MacRivvel was the officer in charge of Mars' defense. Only Earth and Venus also had HIGHCOM leaders, General Usan Hiedo for Earth, and General Alyssa Warden for Venus.

Next in Clayton's sight was Admiral Hackett, the leader of the pathetic excuse for a Navy that the Republic had. _Hopefully we can fix that today_. Gale resolved before moving on with his scan of the room. The Commandant of the Marines, Nora Frost stood talking with Generals Tyler Harm and Akira Lou, of the Army and Spec Ops respectively. Off to the side simply observing was the only Exo of the lot, Trevor - 002. He was the man in charge of deploying, and requisitioning Frames for the military, making him the General of the Mechanized Infantry Division. Before Exos had been seeded with consciousness, they were included solely in the division, which Trevor had also led, before he grew sick and decided to be seeded within one of the very machines he once led.

While all the officials stood around the table talking, one of the 'seats' was already occupied. A terminal sat, with a screen and speaker, giving Rasputin a single place to speak from, rather than coming from all the speakers and screens in the room at once. Rasputin by far was probably the most important member of HIGHCOM. After he had been built, and his true power shown, he was immediately given a spot, where he 'sat' as the leader of the Solar Defense, as well as Intelligence gathering.

Only General Jack Harper was not present, due to his unfortunate demise.

When all of those gathered noticed the Chancellor, they saluted, a gesture he soon reciprocated, and with a nod they all headed towards their seats and sat down, Rasputin's monitor lit up with his symbol, his way of showing he was listening. Everything was silent however, nobody wanted to be the first to speak about the clusterfuck that was the Battle of Nessus.

Taking a second to breathe, the Chancellor decided he would start with the one question that was on his mind. "How did this happen?" He asked, looking each of those gathered in the eye, skipping over Rasputin. When nobody answered him, he slammed his fist on the table and yelled. "How! Did! This! Happen! I've read the reports! Our technology is better than theirs! Better weapons, armor…"

"Worse soldiers." MacRivvel interrupted him, causing everyone to look towards him, confusion on their face.

The mechanical voice of Trevor was the first to react. "What do you mean 'worse soldiers Gregor? The soldiers fought them off, we won."

Gregor's head snapped towards the Exo. " _Let's see what Gregor is on about"_ Gale thought leaning forward intentivly.

The Scottish general looked between all of his fellow officials before explaining. "Yes Trevor, we did win, but it wasn't because of the soldiers. The Marines had 15% of their company left, the militia had even less! The only reason that colony didn't fall is because of SIVA and the Warmind." He ranted on, everyone in the room sat back, shocked at how the man was practically berating them.

"Like you Chancellor…" The General turned towards him, "...I have read the reports, I also watched combat footage from plenty of marines, and militiamen. What I saw, is the reason why we nearly lost Nessus!"

"And what was that General?" Hackett asked the man.

"I saw our soldiers trying to be bloody action heros like from the movies! Yes we have better armor and weapons, but none of that is worth a single shit if the soldiers believe that the technology makes them invincible! Just watch the footage for yourselves and you will see the same thing I saw! Most of the marines on the planet simply stood and began trying to gun down the enemies, not even realizing that they could get shot too! That is how most of them died! Their own stupidity in believing that their shields can hold against ten enemies firing on them at once!"

Silence reigned as MacRivvel slowly sat back down, having shot out of his chair during the rant. A quick glance around the room showed the Chancellor that all of the gathered generals and the admiral realized the truth of what the Scotsman was saying. A synthesised voice then came out of the speakers from Rasputin's monitor.

" _Warmind Consensus agrees that General MacRivvel is correct. Warmind Magellan had sent reports and footage to I, Warmind Charlemagne, and Warmind Icarus. Actions of soldiers on the ground match with signs of arrogance and over-trust in their armour"_

"I probably could have done a better job leading the fleet. I knew our armor was good, but I should have realized that it wouldn't have held up with the strategy I used." Admiral Hackett admitted.

"We need more ships, better training, and better funding Chancellor. All of that is up to you to convince the Senate of it's necessity." General Lou said, all of the gathered men and woman nodding their agreement, except for two. Marine Commandant Nora Frost and Army General Tyler Harm both had frowns on their faces, and were whispering strongly to each other.

"Is there something you need to say?" The Chancellor asked, staring intentily at the two.

"Yes Chancellor." Nora Frost started before General Harm continued for her. "We believe that we shouldn't increase our military strength. If we were meant to wage war outside our Solar System the Traveler would have give us FTL. The Traveler wants us to stay here! So why should we leave?"

"We have two options now on the table. We shall vote on the course of action we will take." The Chancellor decided. "All in favor of increasing Military budget please rise." Everyone besides General Harm and Commandant Frost rose, Rasputin's screen lit green in his agreement.

"It is decided. Any other concerns or topics of discussion for the group?"

Rasputin's screen flickered as he began to speak. " _The strategic analysis of the battle on the Centaur Nessus shows that the Nanotechnology SIVA is highly effective. I recommend paying Clovis Bray to install more Replication Facilities across the system, as well as try and improve the design."_

Admiral Hackett spoke up at that. "While yes, it is highly effective, Anderson said that Magellan had slight delays at bringing SIVA back under his control. Clovis Bray, if we are to continue militarizing it, must install a better kill switch besides the self-destruct button in the Replication Chambers. Killing the source will do nothing for the SIVA already deployed."

" _Admiral Hackett is correct. Warmind Magellan reported that once infused with alien technology, SIVA began showing basic animal-like instincts to continue to replicate beyond the orders given. While Warmind Magellan did not have any issues bringing the technology back under control, it was noted that Subminds would have a very difficult time controlling it, forcing SIVA to only be available for use while a Warmind is able to control it, limiting its usefulness."_ Rasputin confirmed for the group.

"Animal-like instincts? SIVA is nanotech, Clovis specifically said that they did not make it an AI? How is that possible then?" Trevor asked aloud.

General MacRivvel was the one who answered. "I spoke with Clovis Bray himself on the matter once, when he had first introduced me to SIVA. Beyond him stating his disappointment at the Military requisitioning SIVA as a weapon, instead of letting him focus it solely on the Exodus program, he said that they built SIVA with enough of a brain so that it can use its abilities on whatever it is ordered to convert. My guess is that mixing with the mechs of the enemy had managed to give it some sort of thought process."

All of the officials present gave their agreement with MacRivvel's statement. Before anyone could speak up, the Chancellor's comms device went off, The Senate had decided on an earlier start time for their emergency meeting than previously planned, meaning that he had to leave HIGHCOM. Standing, he looked among the gathered officials. "I am afraid The Senate has called an earlier time. Rasputin, please send any information I should know to my plane as I head to Berlin."

With that the Chancellor left the room.

 **Solar System  
September 10th, 2479**

The meeting of the Senate on the 14th was a milestone for Humanity. Nearly 75% of the Senate voted yes for increasing military strength, and objective that Rasputin was taking to heart, if an AI could be considered having one. The Warmind took direct control of many facilities, factories that produced arms and armour worked overtime, as well as assembly lines for frames. The Warsat launch facility Javelin-4 on Io launched a new weapon or communications satellite every few hours, many of which headed towards the relay. When the next wave came through, the Warminds would be shooting fish in a barrell. Missile silos across the Solar System are being reactivated and connected to the Warmind defense grid.

By far the most valuable part of the massive arms build-up was Clovis Bray's modification of the warship construction facilities in orbit around Mercury. Originally shut-down after the Senate and HighCom stupidly disbanded the fleet building program after ten ships, Clovis Bray was told to take as many people as needed, and were given as much money as needed to update and restart the facilities. The engineering company used SIVA to complete their objectives in mere days. The facilities now use SIVA to build the warships themselves. When the raw material is available, the nanotechnology, controlled by Rasputin and Icarus, breaks down the materials from their engram form and begins assembling the designated ship.

Within half a month the fleet tripled from its pre-battle strength to thirty ships. By now, that number was at 70. All armed and crewed. Having learned about inefficiencies and waste of manpower, many of the minor tasks on board the vessels were assigned to frames controlled by Subminds.

Rasputin was using all the resources at his disposal to prepare for the next wave that everyone knew was coming. But even with the majority of his attention directed towards preparing for war, there was a singular doubt that was formed in his mind. Suspicious activities and behaviors from high ranking individuals across the system. It all started after the murder of the Scientist Alex Shepard, an employee at New Beyond Laboratories. Meetings between military officials and Senators, governors and mayors, all took place in the building, which had renovated itself to act as a dead zone, meaning Rasputin couldn't feasibly find a way in without sending a physical being into the building.

He had never reported those actions, as he could never be truly certain of who was involved, and he couldn't let them know he was on to them. Rasputin had hacked each and every one of their devices, learning everything there was to learn, and reading everything there was to read, and yet, not a single one had any mention of meetings taking place at the Labs. And a few weeks ago, one of the most prominent men from those meetings, Jack Harper, was dead after 'going crazy' and attempting to spike his family on those inhuman devices.

The reports of what those devices did were just as worrying, removing much of the minerals from the Human body and turning them into shallow husks. The idea that a general was willing to do that to his family was disconcerting. So Rasputin made a choice, for every twenty orbital weapons pointing away from the planets and colonies, there was one pointed towards it. Rasputin was created to defend Humanity, not the Republic. He would rain hellfire upon the Government and Republic if it meant to save the species.

The only thing that Rasputin knew would be a threat to him was the entity the Humans called 'The Traveler'. The entity was cautious around the Warmind, even with its current location terraforming Io, it knew that Rasputin had eyes on it, and even more orbital weapons ready to shoot it down if need be.

Yes. Rasputin figured he was able to fight off anything that threatened the Human race, and with that confidence, he sent frames towards New Beyond Laboratories. He wouldn't let that company hide its secrets from him for long, and with the newfound threat, he needed to make sure the home front was secure before looking towards the Relay more than he already had.

 _Domestic Inquiry Protocol is now in effect._

 **Earth, Solar System**

 **September 11th, 2479**

 **1400 Hours**

 **New Beyond Laboratories, London**

General Trevor-002 looked upon the building in front of him, his escort of frames halted around him. He had been called here on behest of the CEO of the Labs, who said he 'desperately needed to talk with him'. And now, as the doors opened in front of him, he was lead through the building by a frame.

Trevor looked around at the people working in the cubicles, and in the labs as they passed each section. " _They look like drones."_ He thought to himself as he watched every person he saw emotionlessly and quietly working. The only sound was those the building made and from the footsteps of himself and the frame. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination, and with a wordless look from the secretary outside the door, she pushed a buzzer, and a minute later the door opened to show Thomas Yen, the man who invited him here.

Yen walked forward and became the first person that Trevor heard speak in the whole building. "Welcome General! There is much we need to discuss!."

Following the man, the Exo General walked into the office silently. He took a quick look around. Nothing was of much note, until he noticed the strange artifact sitting in a glass case behind the Director's desk. It was half the size of a man, and looked like a weird squid with five tendrils. A light shown in the middle of the tendrils.

And for some reason, Trevor felt like it was speaking to him


End file.
